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� Get the dish on Hot Dish�s newest gag Page 11
� POINT Blank with Pride Grand Marshall Molly Kaufman
Page 14
� Historian Neil Miller talks to focusPOINT about his new book Page20
Donations to Goodtime Softball tax exempt
byj. Wallner
The Twin Cities Goodtime Softball League found out this past weekend their request for 501-3c tax-exempt status was approved.
�This is big news for us,� said Commissioner Barry Leavitt. �This will help us with any fundraising activities we have in the future.�
Leavitt received word from the league�s attorney about the tax exempt status.
�When she received it so soon, she thought it was a denial,� Leavitt said. Request normally take about a year. The league�s board of directors unani-
mously approved to begin pursuing 501-3c status last year. The appropriate paperwork was submitted in September, Leavitt said.
Receiving such a quick response from the Internal Revenue Service - which grants or denies the status - Leavitt said, showed the league is in good shape. �Everything they needed to see was there,� Leavitt said. �That makes me happy that the IRS sees we�re organized.�
The tax-exempt status carries with it big changes for how contributions and donations are made to the league. In the past, the league has relied heav-
ily on sponsorship from various businesses, which can write their expenses off as advertising. Donations by individuals would simply be that - a donation.
Now, individuals donations �in essence, are that you�re giving a charitable donation,� Leavitt said. Player fees are not considered a donation, he added. But if a player wanted to contribute money to the organization after they paid their initial fee to play, it would be a donation.
The status will benefit not only the league, but also any charity to which
Continued on page 7
Calliope says farewell to director
by Rachel Cold
Calliope Women�s Chorus� May 13 concert will be their last with director Mary Preus. Calliope, founded in 1976, has been under the direction of Preus for ten of its 19 years.
Preus said her musical interests began at a young age as she �grew up in a really musical family.� She started her singing career in church and school choirs, singing Lutheran hymns. Since then she has branched out into a wide variety of musical types, including jazz, gospel, African and Latin American music, and Scandinavian folk tunes.
Along with her involvement in Calliope, Preus performs in and co-leads Bread for the Journey, a group performing global worship music, teaches voice privately, and directs the choir at Our Savior�s Lutheran Church. Preus said she is leaving Calliope to spend more time on her own singing. She called the decision, �a move from good to good.�
�I probably have learned the most in my life from leading this group,� Preus said, adding that she has been involved with Calliope, �longer than I�ve lived anywhere and longer than any relationship I�ve been in and longer than any job I�ve ever had.�
Preus said when she started working with Calliope ten years go, there were roughly a dozen women singing in the group. Since then, the group has tripled in size. Calliope has �become more of a performing group,� Preus said. �We still sing for fun... [but] the vocal quality of the group has improved.�
�A lot of the singers who I started with are just better singers themselves.� Preus said that part of her work over the past ten years has included giving voice lessons to the chorus.
As a result of Calliope�s growth, Preus said they are taking on much more challenging pieces. �I�m proud,� she said. �We�re more out there in the community, more visible, more available.�
Speaking about the future, Preus said she hopes Calliope will �continue to investigate our own ethnocentrism.� She mentioned the chorus� diversity committee and the antisemitism, ableism, anti-racism workshops they have been through. �We�ve had as one of our back burner goals to support young women,� she added.
Calliope is currently searching for someone to fill Preus� position. Preus was not concerned about the chorus functioning without a director until a new person can be found. �The choir is so well self-run,� she said. �I think there�s some excitement about what�s coming in the future.�
Preus will give a farewell speech at the May 13 concert. The concert will feature pieces from such artists as Miriam Gerber, Elaine Shelly, Jeannie Brindley-Barnett, Jane Evershed, Diane Benjamin, Joan Griffith and Colleen Haas. The performance will be held at the Plymouth Congregational Church at 1900 Nicollet Ave. S., Minneapolis, at 8 p.m. Tickets are $12 and are available at the door and by calling 649-4732. The program is handicap accessible and sign language interpreted, with Braille programs available upon request.
Angry voices raised at tea room forum
Melpomene 5KRun
by Rachel Cold
The mood was tense and expectant as roughly 80 people filtered into a conference room for the University of Minnesota�s first ever discussion of public sex in bathrooms, known as tea rooms. At the door, a man greeted attendees with fliers entitled �No to Sexphobia.� Inside voices were raised in argument before the panel began.
Beth Zemsky, director of the University of Minnesota Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Programs Office, organized the forum, inviting a number of speakers from the GLBT community, and a Minneapolis Police officer. The panel included Jonathan Hanst of the Youth and AIDS Project, Kevin Sitter a longtime AIDS activist currently at the Hennepin County Medical Center, Rebecca Lovejoy of the Gay and Lesbian Community Action Council, Officer Rob Allen of the Minneapolis Police, and Professor Simon Rosser of the Program in Human Sexuality,
Before announcing the panel, Hanst repeatedly expressed that organizers intended the event to be an opportunity for learning and discussion.
Kevin Sifter was the only panelist to speak first-hand about tea room experiences. He called tea rooms a �gateway for many men�s access to other men.�
�It can complete and fulfill needs,� he said. �But it can also be ineffective.�
He addressed what he calls �etiquette breaches� including more violence among tea room patrons, more hateful graffiti on bathroom walls, and some assaults.
�If I can get hurt in a bathroom, that�s not healthy,� Sitter said. He added, �I still see men having sex in bathrooms and I consider that [to be ] good news.�
Simon Rosser followed with a minilecture, including transparencies, examining some of the surveys that have tried to pinpoint who uses tea rooms. He stated that tea rooms are one of few places where people can find �privacy in public... the best of both worlds.� He was the only member of the panel that the audience applauded.
Rebecca Lovejoy and Officer Allen talked about the joint effort of the GLCAC and Minneapolis Police to cut down on police harassment of gay men in parks last summer. Lt Steve Johnson of the University Police did not sit on the panel, but chose a seat in the front row by Officer Allen. When an audience member angrily questioned the lack of a presence by University Police, Lt. Johnson stood and introduced himself to the room.
He responded to a few brief questions, reiterating that police are obliged to respond to complaints and that they do not intend to sweep the bathrooms.
Audience comments and questions ran the gamut from University students who insisted they should not be afraid to enter a bathroom, to activists who insisted that a person�s aversion to walking in on a sexual act did not justify police action.
Animosity towards the police and the GLBT Programs Office�s willingness to work with them ran through comments made by both sides of the issue. �The police are not our friends,� remarked David Thorstead.
Some argued that sexual liberation is at the core of the gay rights move-
Arne Kallas clinches his first place ribbon after the kid�s run at the 13th annual Melpomene 5k run-walk on Saturday. Joan Kallas, Arne�s mother, carried her son across thefin-ishline.
Kevin Sitter, longtime AIDS activist, explains the functions that tea rooms serve in helping men to meet other men.
ment and that tea room sex is a part of that liberation. Thorstead commented that the gay movement has, �retreated so far from its goals of sexual liberation.� And John Townsend of Gaze Magazine condemned �bourgeois politicians� such as Allan Spear, whom he said have �sold out� the gay community.
The sodomy law was another hotly contested issue as audience members accused organizers of helping the police to enforce that law. Ann DeGroot of the GLCAC said �don�t assume that people haven�t worked against sodomy.� She responded to one audience member�s complaint about the shrinking areas for men to meet each other for sex by saying she would publicly support the opening of a bathhouse. �I think a bathhouse is a terrific idea..
. go for it.�
A gay man, who said he had recently moved to the Twin Cities from Los Angeles, summarized many audience members statements opposing tea room activity when he called tea room sex �obnoxious and offensive� and asked where the �sense of entitlement� some audience members seemed to have came from.
Beth Zemsky said, �I am not for or against tea rooms,� and reminded the audience that �none of this stuff is in isolation,� listing off a number of the GLBT Programs Office�s other functions, including their computer database and a recently formed support group.
Although initial reports from the University Police indicated that some bathrooms would close, the police have stated that all the bathrooms will remain open. Volunteers are still being sought to take leaflets into tea rooms warning patrons that they could be arrested.
Zemsky said �this is obviously a contentious issue,� and that the tea room coalition intends to �integrate [the] feedback� into their next step. She did not know what that next step will be.

� Get the dish on Hot Dish�s newest gag Page 11
� POINT Blank with Pride Grand Marshall Molly Kaufman
Page 14
� Historian Neil Miller talks to focusPOINT about his new book Page20
Donations to Goodtime Softball tax exempt
byj. Wallner
The Twin Cities Goodtime Softball League found out this past weekend their request for 501-3c tax-exempt status was approved.
�This is big news for us,� said Commissioner Barry Leavitt. �This will help us with any fundraising activities we have in the future.�
Leavitt received word from the league�s attorney about the tax exempt status.
�When she received it so soon, she thought it was a denial,� Leavitt said. Request normally take about a year. The league�s board of directors unani-
mously approved to begin pursuing 501-3c status last year. The appropriate paperwork was submitted in September, Leavitt said.
Receiving such a quick response from the Internal Revenue Service - which grants or denies the status - Leavitt said, showed the league is in good shape. �Everything they needed to see was there,� Leavitt said. �That makes me happy that the IRS sees we�re organized.�
The tax-exempt status carries with it big changes for how contributions and donations are made to the league. In the past, the league has relied heav-
ily on sponsorship from various businesses, which can write their expenses off as advertising. Donations by individuals would simply be that - a donation.
Now, individuals donations �in essence, are that you�re giving a charitable donation,� Leavitt said. Player fees are not considered a donation, he added. But if a player wanted to contribute money to the organization after they paid their initial fee to play, it would be a donation.
The status will benefit not only the league, but also any charity to which
Continued on page 7
Calliope says farewell to director
by Rachel Cold
Calliope Women�s Chorus� May 13 concert will be their last with director Mary Preus. Calliope, founded in 1976, has been under the direction of Preus for ten of its 19 years.
Preus said her musical interests began at a young age as she �grew up in a really musical family.� She started her singing career in church and school choirs, singing Lutheran hymns. Since then she has branched out into a wide variety of musical types, including jazz, gospel, African and Latin American music, and Scandinavian folk tunes.
Along with her involvement in Calliope, Preus performs in and co-leads Bread for the Journey, a group performing global worship music, teaches voice privately, and directs the choir at Our Savior�s Lutheran Church. Preus said she is leaving Calliope to spend more time on her own singing. She called the decision, �a move from good to good.�
�I probably have learned the most in my life from leading this group,� Preus said, adding that she has been involved with Calliope, �longer than I�ve lived anywhere and longer than any relationship I�ve been in and longer than any job I�ve ever had.�
Preus said when she started working with Calliope ten years go, there were roughly a dozen women singing in the group. Since then, the group has tripled in size. Calliope has �become more of a performing group,� Preus said. �We still sing for fun... [but] the vocal quality of the group has improved.�
�A lot of the singers who I started with are just better singers themselves.� Preus said that part of her work over the past ten years has included giving voice lessons to the chorus.
As a result of Calliope�s growth, Preus said they are taking on much more challenging pieces. �I�m proud,� she said. �We�re more out there in the community, more visible, more available.�
Speaking about the future, Preus said she hopes Calliope will �continue to investigate our own ethnocentrism.� She mentioned the chorus� diversity committee and the antisemitism, ableism, anti-racism workshops they have been through. �We�ve had as one of our back burner goals to support young women,� she added.
Calliope is currently searching for someone to fill Preus� position. Preus was not concerned about the chorus functioning without a director until a new person can be found. �The choir is so well self-run,� she said. �I think there�s some excitement about what�s coming in the future.�
Preus will give a farewell speech at the May 13 concert. The concert will feature pieces from such artists as Miriam Gerber, Elaine Shelly, Jeannie Brindley-Barnett, Jane Evershed, Diane Benjamin, Joan Griffith and Colleen Haas. The performance will be held at the Plymouth Congregational Church at 1900 Nicollet Ave. S., Minneapolis, at 8 p.m. Tickets are $12 and are available at the door and by calling 649-4732. The program is handicap accessible and sign language interpreted, with Braille programs available upon request.
Angry voices raised at tea room forum
Melpomene 5KRun
by Rachel Cold
The mood was tense and expectant as roughly 80 people filtered into a conference room for the University of Minnesota�s first ever discussion of public sex in bathrooms, known as tea rooms. At the door, a man greeted attendees with fliers entitled �No to Sexphobia.� Inside voices were raised in argument before the panel began.
Beth Zemsky, director of the University of Minnesota Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Programs Office, organized the forum, inviting a number of speakers from the GLBT community, and a Minneapolis Police officer. The panel included Jonathan Hanst of the Youth and AIDS Project, Kevin Sitter a longtime AIDS activist currently at the Hennepin County Medical Center, Rebecca Lovejoy of the Gay and Lesbian Community Action Council, Officer Rob Allen of the Minneapolis Police, and Professor Simon Rosser of the Program in Human Sexuality,
Before announcing the panel, Hanst repeatedly expressed that organizers intended the event to be an opportunity for learning and discussion.
Kevin Sifter was the only panelist to speak first-hand about tea room experiences. He called tea rooms a �gateway for many men�s access to other men.�
�It can complete and fulfill needs,� he said. �But it can also be ineffective.�
He addressed what he calls �etiquette breaches� including more violence among tea room patrons, more hateful graffiti on bathroom walls, and some assaults.
�If I can get hurt in a bathroom, that�s not healthy,� Sitter said. He added, �I still see men having sex in bathrooms and I consider that [to be ] good news.�
Simon Rosser followed with a minilecture, including transparencies, examining some of the surveys that have tried to pinpoint who uses tea rooms. He stated that tea rooms are one of few places where people can find �privacy in public... the best of both worlds.� He was the only member of the panel that the audience applauded.
Rebecca Lovejoy and Officer Allen talked about the joint effort of the GLCAC and Minneapolis Police to cut down on police harassment of gay men in parks last summer. Lt Steve Johnson of the University Police did not sit on the panel, but chose a seat in the front row by Officer Allen. When an audience member angrily questioned the lack of a presence by University Police, Lt. Johnson stood and introduced himself to the room.
He responded to a few brief questions, reiterating that police are obliged to respond to complaints and that they do not intend to sweep the bathrooms.
Audience comments and questions ran the gamut from University students who insisted they should not be afraid to enter a bathroom, to activists who insisted that a person�s aversion to walking in on a sexual act did not justify police action.
Animosity towards the police and the GLBT Programs Office�s willingness to work with them ran through comments made by both sides of the issue. �The police are not our friends,� remarked David Thorstead.
Some argued that sexual liberation is at the core of the gay rights move-
Arne Kallas clinches his first place ribbon after the kid�s run at the 13th annual Melpomene 5k run-walk on Saturday. Joan Kallas, Arne�s mother, carried her son across thefin-ishline.
Kevin Sitter, longtime AIDS activist, explains the functions that tea rooms serve in helping men to meet other men.
ment and that tea room sex is a part of that liberation. Thorstead commented that the gay movement has, �retreated so far from its goals of sexual liberation.� And John Townsend of Gaze Magazine condemned �bourgeois politicians� such as Allan Spear, whom he said have �sold out� the gay community.
The sodomy law was another hotly contested issue as audience members accused organizers of helping the police to enforce that law. Ann DeGroot of the GLCAC said �don�t assume that people haven�t worked against sodomy.� She responded to one audience member�s complaint about the shrinking areas for men to meet each other for sex by saying she would publicly support the opening of a bathhouse. �I think a bathhouse is a terrific idea..
. go for it.�
A gay man, who said he had recently moved to the Twin Cities from Los Angeles, summarized many audience members statements opposing tea room activity when he called tea room sex �obnoxious and offensive� and asked where the �sense of entitlement� some audience members seemed to have came from.
Beth Zemsky said, �I am not for or against tea rooms,� and reminded the audience that �none of this stuff is in isolation,� listing off a number of the GLBT Programs Office�s other functions, including their computer database and a recently formed support group.
Although initial reports from the University Police indicated that some bathrooms would close, the police have stated that all the bathrooms will remain open. Volunteers are still being sought to take leaflets into tea rooms warning patrons that they could be arrested.
Zemsky said �this is obviously a contentious issue,� and that the tea room coalition intends to �integrate [the] feedback� into their next step. She did not know what that next step will be.